Container

ABSTRACT

A container including a container member having a bottom portion and a side wall portion which form a depression, and a lid member configured to adhere to the side wall portion to close an opening of the depression, wherein a projection is provided in an area of the side wall portion to be adhered to the lid member, part of the projection forms an extending portion extending along the lid member as a result of the adhesion, and the extending portion extends toward an inside and an outside and the length in an extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the inside is longer than the length in the extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the outside.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This disclosure relates to a container having a container member and a lid member.

2. Description of the Related Art

Examples of containers for storing products or the like include a configuration including a container member having a depression and a lid member configured to close an opening of the depression by adhering to a side wall portion of the container member, and for example, a container referred to as a “blister pack” is known. The blister pack is formed by adhering a blister container, which corresponds to a container member having a suitable shape for storing and holding a product to a lid member configured to close an opening of the blister container. At this time, if adhesion is insufficient, the adhered portion is separated due to deformation of the container caused by falling impacts, temperatures, pressure variations, and the like, and hence the product stored in the depression may not be protected. Therefore, the adhesion between the container member and the lid member needs to have a sufficient strength and enhancement of hermeticity is required. However, if the strength of the adhesion is enhanced too much by adhering the lid member strongly, then separation of the lid member from the container member becomes difficult.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-10082 describes a mode in which a projection is provided on an upper part of a side wall portion and the projection and a lid member are adhered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure provides a container including: a container member including a bottom portion and a side wall portion extending from the bottom portion, and a depression formed in an area surrounded by the bottom portion and the side wall portion; and a lid member configured to adhere to the side wall portion to close an opening of the depression, wherein a projection is provided in an area of the side wall portion to be adhered to the lid member, part of the projection forms an extending portion extending along the lid member as a result of the adhesion, and the extending portion extends toward an inside and an outside where the inside is a side where the opening exists with respect to the projection as a center, and the outside is an opposite side from the inside, and the length in an extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the inside is longer than the length in the extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the outside.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of a container.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the container.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are drawings illustrating a procedure in which an opening is closed by a lid member.

FIGS. 4A and 4B is an enlarged view of an adhering portion.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are drawings illustrating an appearance of the extending portion.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are drawings illustrating the appearance of the extending portion.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are enlarged views of the adhering portion.

FIG. 8 is a drawing illustrating a shape of a projection before adhesion.

FIGS. 9A to 9G are drawings illustrating the shapes of the projections before adhesion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

According to the study of present inventors, with a container disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-10082, strength of adhesion can be adjusted to an extent that allows opening by a hand by adhering the lid member to a projection having a substantially cylindrical shape. However, according to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-10082, it is difficult to achieve the strength of adhesion and easiness of separation of the lid member simultaneously. In other words, if the strength of adhesion is increased to hermetically close a depression, easy-to-open property is impaired and, in contrast, if the strength of adhesion is reduced for providing the easy-to-open property, hermeticity is impaired. In this manner, adjustment of the strength of adhesion is very difficult.

Accordingly, this disclosure provides a container which allows easy separation of a lid member when separating the lid member while increasing hermeticity of a depression of a container member.

Modes for carrying out this disclosure will be described below.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view illustrating a container 1 of this disclosure. The container 1 includes a container member 2 and a lid member 3. FIG. 1B illustrates a state in which the lid member 3 is separated from the container member 2. The container member 2 includes a depression and an object to be stored 4 such as a product is stored in the depression. A portion of the container member 2 to which the lid member 3 is adhered corresponds to a flange 5. The flange 5 includes a projection 6 projecting upward.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which the lid member 3 is about to be separated from the container member 2. The container member 2 includes a bottom portion 7 and a side wall portion 8 extending from the bottom portion 7. The side wall portion 8 may extend vertically from the bottom portion 7, and may extend obliquely with respect to the bottom portion 7. An area surrounded by the bottom portion 7 and the side wall portion 8 corresponds to a depression 9. The depression 9 is configured to store an object to be stored. However, illustration of the object to be stored is omitted here. The depression 9 has an opening 10 on upper side and the opening 10 is closed by the lid member 3. The lid member 3 is adhered to the side wall portion 8. An area of the side wall portion 8 to be adhered to the lid member 3 includes the projection 6. The projection 6 constitutes part of the side wall portion 8, and part of the projection 6 is in contact with the lid member 3 by adhesion. A side where the opening exists with respect to the projection 6 as a center corresponds to an inside, and a side opposite to the inside corresponds to an outside. When the lid member 3 is separated from the container member 2, the lid member 3 is peeled off from the outside toward the inside as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate a procedure of adhering the lid member 3 to the container member 2 to close the opening of the depression. First of all, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, an adhesion horn 11 is arranged at a position of the container member 2 which faces the opening 10. From this state, the adhesion horn 11 is lowered as illustrated in FIG. 3B to melt part of the projection 6, thereby adhering to the lid member 3. After the adhesion, the adhesion horn 11 is raised, so that a container with a hermetically closed depression as illustrated in FIG. 3C may be obtained. In this manner, the opening is closed by the lid member.

A portion IV in FIG. 3C is an adhered portion between the projection 6 and the lid member 3. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the portion IV in an enlarged scale. FIG. 4A illustrates a moment when a distal end of the projection 6 and the lid member 3 come into contact with each other, and FIG. 4B illustrates a state in which the adhesion horn is further lowered and the projection 6 is melted. The lid member 3 includes a base material 12 and an adhesion layer 13. First of all, the adhesion layer 13 comes into contact with the distal end of the projection 6, and from this state, the distal end, which is part of the projection 6, starts to melt. Adhesion is achieved at a position where the base material 12 and the projection 6 come into contact with each other. At this time, the distal end of the projection 6 is subjected to a thermal deformation due to a load applied by the adhesion horn and consequently is collapsed. The thermally deformed portion extends in a direction toward a wider space which accommodates the protruded projection. In this manner, an extending portion extended from the projection 6 by the thermal deformation is formed. The extending portion 14 extends along the lid member 3 in parallel to the lid member 3.

In this disclosure, a configuration of the extending portion 14 provides a container which allows easy separation of a lid member when separating the lid member while increasing hermeticity of a depression of a container member. The configuration of the extending portion 14 will be described with reference to FIG. 5A to FIG. 6B. FIG. 5A to FIG. 6B illustrate a state in which the opening is located on the left side of the projection 6. In other words, a left side, that is, a side where the opening exists with respect to the projection 6 as a center corresponds to an inside, and a right side, that is, a side opposite to the inside corresponds to an outside.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are drawings illustrating extending portions and a state in which the extending portion is formed in the related art. FIG. 5A is a moment when the distal end of the projection 6 and the lid member come into contact with each other. When part of the projection 6 is adhered by using the adhesion horn or the like from this state, the projection 6 having a semicircular shape forms the extending portion 14 uniformly to the inside and the outside, and the state illustrated in FIG. 5B is assumed. In other words, the projection 6 has a symmetric shape on the left and the right (the inside and the outside), and the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion 14 (the left and right direction in the drawing) extending toward the inside is the same as that of the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion 14 extending toward the outside. In this case, if the length of the extending portion is increased, adhesion between the container member and the lid member is enhanced, and hence the hermeticity of the depression is enhanced correspondingly. In contrast, since the length of the extending portion extending toward the outside is also increased, separation of the lid member becomes difficult. In contrast, if the length of the extending portion is decreased, separation of the lid member is facilitated. However, since the length of the extending portion is reduced as a whole, the hermeticity in the depression is lowered.

Therefore, this disclosure employs a configuration in which the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion extending toward the inside is increased to secure the hermeticity, and the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion extending toward the outside is decreased or the extending portion extending toward the outside is eliminated. FIGS. 6A and 6B are drawings illustrating a state of the extending portion of this disclosure. In FIG. 6A, the extending portion 14 extending toward the inside with the projection 6 as a center exists, but there is no extending portion extending toward the outside. In other words, the extending portion extends only toward the inside. The lid member 3 is separated from the outside toward the inside. The lid member 3 needs to be separated easily in an initial stage of the separation. Therefore, with the extending portion extending toward the outside eliminated, the adhesion layer 13 of the lid member 3 is not caught by the extending portion, so that easy separation is achieved. The extending portion on the inside is not likely caught by the adhesion layer 13 during the separation, and does not given an impact on the separation. In contrast, the hermeticity of the depression of the container member is determined depending on a contact surface area between the lid member 3 and the projection 6. Since the projection 6 has an extending portion extending toward the inside, the extending portion may bring the lid member 3 and the projection 6 into sufficient contact with each other to enhance the hermeticity. The lid member 3 may be separated from the outside toward the inside and then may be separated from the inside toward the outside. However, since the separation has advanced sufficiently at the time of the separation of the latter, the problem of the extending portion being caught is negligible.

Although a container having no extending portion extending toward the outside is illustrated in FIG. 6A, an extending portion extending toward the outside may be provided. However, the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion extending toward the inside is set to be longer than the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion extending toward the outside. FIG. 6B illustrates this shape. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion 14 a extending toward the inside is set to be longer than the length in the direction of extension of the extending portion 14 b extending toward the outside. In this configuration, separability of the lid member 3 is high since the extending portion 14 b extending toward the outside is short, while the hermeticity of the depression may be enhanced since the extending portion 14 a extending toward the inside is long.

The projection 6 can be provided continuously so as to extend along the entire circumference along the side wall portion 8. The extending portion can also be provided continuously so as to extend along the entire circumference along the side wall portion 8. In this configuration, stable adhesion is achieved.

The length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is preferably 0.2 mm or longer. A length of 0.2 mm or longer achieves the enhancement of the hermeticity of the depression. A length of 0.4 mm or more is more preferable. A length of 1.0 mm or shorter is preferable. The length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is a length of a portion indicated by C in FIG. 6B.

In contrast, the length of the extending portion extending toward the outside is preferably 0.15 mm or shorter. A length of 0.15 mm or shorter facilitates the separation of the lid member. The length of the extending portion extending toward the outside is a length of a portion indicated by D in FIG. 6B.

The thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is preferably 0.01 mm or longer. A thickness of 0.01 mm or longer achieves the enhancement of the hermeticity of the depression. A thickness of 0.1 mm or shorter is preferable. The thickness of 0.1 mm or shorter facilitates separation. The thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is a thickness (length) of a portion indicated by E in FIG. 6B.

With the provision of the extending portion of this disclosure as described above, a container which allows easy separation of a lid member when separating the lid member while increasing hermeticity of a depression of a container member. The extending portion of this configuration may be formed in any way. However, a method of adjusting the shape of the extending portion by adjusting the shape of the projection before adhesion will be described. As an example, the case where the shape of the projection before adhesion has a shape illustrated in FIG. 4A, that is, the inside extends vertically to the lid member 3 and the outside has an R-shape will be described. In this case, if the adhesion is in progress as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the projection 6 is deformed toward the inside, which is an area having a larger space. In other words, the extending portion 14 extends toward the inside. In contrast, even though the area extends toward the outside, the space is smaller because of the presence of an inclined surface having the R-shape correspondingly, and hence the extending portion does not easily extend in the outside area. Therefore, even though the extending portion is formed only on the inside, or even when the extending portion is formed on the inside and the outside, the length of the extending portion on the inside may be increased. The extending portion 14 may be formed by causing part of the projection 6 and the adhesion layer 13 of the lid member 3 to be melted to each other.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, an angle formed between a straight line 17 which connects a point 15 on the root side, which is one of points inside the projection 6, and a point 16 on the base material side of the lid member and the base material is determined as θ1. An angle formed between a straight line 20 which connects a point 18 on the root side, which is one of points outside the projection 6, and a point 19 on the base material side of the lid member and the base material is determined as θ2. At this time, if a relationship of θ1>θ2 is achieved, the inside space may be increased, so that the extending portion 14 can be extended easily to the inside. However, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, if the projection 6 is depressed inward with respect to the straight line 20, the outside space is increased, so that the extending portion can easily extend to the outside. Therefore, the projection 6 can be formed to have a shape protruding to the outside with respect to the straight line 20.

The shape of the projection which allows the extending portion to extend to the inside easily will be studied from a different point of view. The shape of the projection described above is asymmetry in the lateral direction (the inside and outside direction), and is a shape in which a center (outer center) of a circumscribing circle of the projection is arranged on the outside of a center of gravity of the projection. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 8, a circumscribing circle 21 passing three points, namely, the point 15 on the root side from among the inside points of the projection 6, the point 16 on the base material side of the lid member, and the point 18 on the root side from among the outside points of the projection 6 is considered. In the case where a center 22 of the circumscribing circle 21 is arranged on the outside of a straight line 23 which connects a center point between the point 15 and the point 18 with the point 16, the extending portion tends to extend on the inside. In addition, a line 24 connecting the point 15 and the point 16 can be vertical to an upper surface (a flange surface if the flange exists) of the side wall portion. In contrast, a line 25 on the outside of the projection can have an R-shape protruding to the outside. With this shape, when the projection is collapsed, a root portion approaches the lid member, so that the space which allows protrusion of the extending portion is reduced, and hence the extending portion is not easily formed on the outside. Specifically, the R-shape of protruding to the outside can be formed to have a radius not smaller than the height of the projection because the extending portion is not formed easily on the outside. The line 25 on the outside of the projection may be a straight line. However, in this case, the closer the angle of the straight line to an angle parallel to the lid member, the less the probability of formation of the extending portion toward the outside, which is more preferable. Since the point 16 which is an apex of the projection 6 is a point where the line 24 of the inside wall and the line 25 of the outside wall intersect, an angular portion which serves as a boundary between the inside and the outside can be provided at on this portion. If there is an angular portion, the inside and the outside regarding the protrusion may be functionally separated clearly by the apex.

Based on the result of study described thus far, an example of the projection 6 before adhesion is illustrated in FIGS. 9A to 9G. The projection 6 has a shape illustrated in FIGS. 9A to 9G, the extending portion may be spread easily to the inside, and may be prevented from easily spreading to the outside when adhering the distal end of the projection 6 to the lid member.

The lid member 3 will be described. The lid member 3 has a flat portion which is adhered to the projection 6, so that adhesion is achieved further stably. The adhesion layer of the lid member 3 can have compatibility with the side wall portion 8 of the container member 2 during the adhesion. Therefore, the adhesion layer can be formed with the same type of material as the container member. In order to achieve a structure which promotes heat transfer during the adhesion, the lid member 3 of a sheet-type can be employed. The lid member of the sheet-type has a multilayer structure, and can include a printing layer and a gas barrier layer. Amorphous polypropylene can be arranged on the lowermost layer (the layer farthest from the base material 12). The amorphous polypropylene in the lowermost layer is compatible with the distal end of the projection of the container member during the adhesion, so that the stable adhesion is achieved. A transparent material as the lid member of the sheet-type can be employed because visibility of the interior of the container may be enhanced.

The projection 6 can be formed of crystalline polypropylene. Accordingly, the thermally deformed portion may be stayed in the vicinity of the original projection. The adhesion layer of the lid member can be formed of amorphous polypropylene as described above. With this combination of these members, fluidity of the adhesion layer may be enhanced to allow the adhesion layer to flow to the periphery of the extending portion, so that the adhesion between the extending portion and the adhesion layer may be enhanced.

The length and the thickness of the extending portion change according to the amount of the distal end of the projection 6 collapsed during adhesion. If the projection 6 is adhered deeply to the root, the extending portion becomes long and thick, and the strength of adhesion is also enhanced. In contrast, if the projection 6 is adhered shallowly near the distal end, the extending portion becomes short and thin, and the strength of adhesion is also weakened. Therefore, the length and the depth of the extending portion are easily adjustable if the height of the projection is set to 0.2 mm or longer. From the moldability point of view, the height of the projection can be set to 1.0 mm or smaller. The height of the projection corresponds to the length in a direction vertical to the lid member or the opening of the container member. The height of the projection corresponds to a length of the projection before adhesion to the lid member.

The width of the projection on the side wall portion side is preferably 0.2 mm or longer. If the width of the projection on the side wall portion side is 0.2 mm or larger, the functional separation of the extending portion between the inside and the outside thereof is easily achieved. The width of the projection on the side wall portion side can be set to 5.0 mm or smaller from the manufacturing point of view. The width of the projection on the side wall portion side corresponds to the width (length) of a portion indicated by a sign F in the projection 6 illustrated in FIG. 4A.

The method used in adhesion may be any method such as ultrasonic adhesion, vibration adhesion, thermal adhesion as long as the projection can be melted. Among others, the thermal adhesion system is preferable because temperature control and load control can be performed relatively easily. In the case where polypropylene is used as the projection, the adhesion horn is operated at a temperature from 8° C. to 15° C., and a load from 3N to 15N as a condition for achieving melting of this member. Accordingly, adhesion between the container member and the lid member is achieved. If the temperature is lower than 8° C. or if the load is smaller than 3N, adhesion may become insufficient without causing a sufficient compatibility. In contrast, if the temperature is higher than 15° C. or if the load is larger than 15N, excessive adhesion may occur and separation of the lid member may not be easy.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-183710 filed Sep. 9, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A container comprising: a container member including a bottom portion and a side wall portion extending from the bottom portion, and a depression formed in an area surrounded by the bottom portion and the side wall portion; and a lid member configured to adhere to the side wall portion to close an opening of the depression, wherein a projection is provided in an area of the side wall portion to be adhered to the lid member, part of the projection forms an extending portion extending along the lid member as a result of the adhesion, and the extending portion extends toward an inside and an outside where the inside is a side where the opening exists with respect to the projection as a center, and the outside is an opposite side from the inside, and the length in an extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the inside is longer than the length in the extending direction of the extending portion extending toward the outside.
 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the length of the extending portion extending toward the outside is 0.15 mm or shorter.
 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.2 mm or longer.
 4. The container according to claim 1, wherein the length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 1.0 mm or shorter.
 5. The container according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.01 mm or larger.
 6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.1 mm or smaller.
 7. The container according to claim 1, wherein the projection before being subjected to adhesion has an R-shape on the outside thereof.
 8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the lid member has a base material and an adhesion layer, and the projection before being subjected to adhesion has a relationship of θ1>θ2 where θ1 is an angle formed between a straight line which connects a point on the root side, which is one of points inside the projection, and a point on the base material side and the base material and θ2 is an angle formed between a straight line which connects a point on the root side, which is one of points outside the projection, and a point on the base material side and the base material.
 9. The container according to claim 1, wherein the projection before being subjected to adhesion has a shape in which a center of a circumscribing circuit of the projection is arranged on the outside of a center of gravity of the projection.
 10. A container comprising: a container member including a bottom portion and a side wall portion extending from the bottom portion, and a depression formed in an area surrounded by the bottom portion and the side wall portion; and a lid member configured to adhere to the side wall portion to close an opening of the depression, wherein a projection is provided in an area of the side wall portion to be adhered to the lid member, part of the projection forms an extending portion extending along the lid member as a result of the adhesion, and the extending portion extends only toward an inside where the inside is a side where the opening exists with respect to the projection as a center, and an outside is an opposite side from the inside.
 11. The container according to claim 10, wherein the length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.2 mm or longer.
 12. The container according to claim 10, wherein the length of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 1.0 mm or shorter.
 13. The container according to claim 10, wherein the thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.01 mm or larger.
 14. The container according to claim 10, wherein the thickness of the extending portion extending toward the inside is 0.1 mm or smaller.
 15. The container according to claim 10, wherein the projection before being subjected to adhesion has an R-shape on the outside thereof.
 16. The container according to claim 10, wherein the lid member has a base material and an adhesion layer, and the projection before being subjected to adhesion has a relationship of θ1>θ2 where θ1 is an angle formed between a straight line which connects a point on the root side, which is one of points inside the projection, and a point on the base material side and the base material and θ2 is an angle formed between a straight line which connects a point on the root side, which is one of points outside the projection, and a point on the base material side and the base material.
 17. The container according to claim 10, wherein the projection before being subjected to adhesion has a shape in which a center of a circumscribing circuit of the projection is arranged on the outside of a center of gravity of the projection. 